Box-lock.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE F. MILLER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM F. TERRY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BOX-LOCK.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan.14,1 913.

Application filed August 11, 1911. Serial No. 643,606.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, THEODORE F. MILLER, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Locks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my said invention is to provide an improved lock for boxes and crates, especially crates for containing bottles, 'etc., but adapted for containing any other class of goods, whereby such a lock is provided which will act automatically and at the same time lock the lid of the box securely while permitting ready disengagement, all as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings which are made a part hereof and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of my locks attached to the top of a box, Fig. 2 a cross section through the same, Fig. 3 a perspective View of the lock base or plate and parts which it carries, and Fig. 4 an underside plan of the same.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the box lid and B the lock, or keeper, plate. 7

The box, as before stated, may be any character of box, or crate, adapted to contain goods of any class and having a lid A hinged thereto, usually by hinges which are formed with loose oints so that said lid may be closed without any especial fitting or adjustment.

The lock or keeper plate B is preferably of cast metal having a hollow boss 10 on its under side adapted to extend down through an aperture in the lid A, the interior of said boss being formed with two opposite inclined sides a approaching each other near the upper end to form a narrow opening, or throat, between them, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. The upper edges of said inclined side portions a form shoulders 11 over which a spring latch 12 is adapted to engage. Said spring latch 12 is preferably a spring wire doubled with a loop at its top and formed with a prong 13 on the lower end of each branch, which is adapted to be driven into the side of the box. It is held in place by a staple 14 near the lower end thereof and a staple 15 a distance'above said staple 14. The loop on the upper end of said spring latch is adapted to slide over and engage on the tops, or shoulders, 11 of the inclined sides of the boss 10. Said plate B is also formed with upwardly extending longitudinal flanges 16 between which a throat piece 17 is mounted on a pivot 18. Said throat piece 17 is formed at its forward end with a narrow lower edge adapted to fit into the throat between the internal inclined sides a of the boss 10, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. A spring 19 normally holds said throat piece in position. An ordinary seal 20 passes through transverse perforations in the side pieces 16 and throat piece 17 passing under the loop of the spring latch, to make the lock secure when desired.

I11 operation, the parts being on the box in the relative position shown, when the lid is closed, the upper end of spring latch 12 will strike between the inclined sides a in the boss 10 and slide upward passing either on one side or the other according to the direction of the pressure, lifting said throat piece and permitting latch 12 to engage over one or the other of the shoulders 11, when the spring 19 will immediately throw throat piece 17 down closing the throat between the inclined sides a in the boss 10 and preventing the latch 12 from disengaging from the said shoulder 11. WVhen it is desired to release the lid from the lock, however, it is only necessary to lift throat piece 17 by means of the projecting end 21, or any other means, and lift on the lid when latch 12 will freely slide from the top of shoulder 11 because of its inclined surface and permit the lid to be raised. By sealing the lock, as shown in Fig. 2, the lid cannot, of course, be raised, or the lock disengaged until the seal is broken.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A box lock comprising a spring latch secured to the inside of the box, a plate secured on the lid of the box and formed with an aperture having interior inclined sides with a narrow throat at their upper ends, and said upper ends formed as engaging shoulders for said latch, and a pivoted throat piece adapted to normally rest in the throat between said inclined sides and to be raised by the insertion of said latch, substantially as set forth.

2. A box lock comprising a latch and a of the throat piece 17 keeper, one secured to the box and the other secured to the lid, the keeper being formed with an aperture through which an end of the latch is adapted to be inserted, said aperture being formed with inclined interior sides terminating in a narrow throat and with shoulders for receiving the latch, and a pivoted throat piece adapted to normally rest in the throat between said inclined sides, substantially as set forth.

3. A box lock comprising a latch and a keeper one secured to the box and the other to the lid, said keeper formed with an aperture having a narrow throat and engaging means for the latch in said throat, and a 15 movable throat piece mounted in said throat and adapted to normally hold said latch locked, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal at Washington, District of 20 Columbia this 8th day of August, A. D. nineteen hundred and eleven.

THEODORE F. MILLER. [Ls] Witnesses:

' E. W. BRADFORD,

J. D. YOAKLEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

